FLCL Symphony of Destruction Ep 1
by Raven Chaos
Summary: Episode 1: Seven years later, Naota Nandaba publishes his adventures, inviting the world to peer into the madness of his youth.


Fooly Cooly - Symphony of Destruction

By Doctor the fan-fiction writer Raven Chaos

Disclaimer: I do not own FLCL, or any characters therein except those of my own creation. All known properties mentioned within are property of GAINAX as far as my knowledge goes. That's outta the way, enjoy Episode One.

Episode One- Nostalgic Nausea

It had been seven years since he returned to the spot under the bridge...The place of his childhood. A place that would forever be held in infamy in his mind. The place he would come every day after school...or during school in the rare instances he skipped classes...

Naota Nandaba, age 19, sat by the rivers edge, staring at nothing in particular. In the years since that fateful afternoon, Naota had changed...as would be expected for a young man entering adulthood. He grew his hair long, granting him remarks that he was beginning to resemble his father. That said, he refused to pony-tail it. He simply let it hang loose.

He couldn't explain himself today...He hadn't even thought about it for four years. He was suddenly nostalgic...and at the same time nauseated. Naota closed his eyes...and he was twelve years old, doing his homework by the side of the river...

"_Legs spread, same width as the shoulders...Body tight, then hit the ball like you're defeating the enemy!...Here, the pinky finger is the key! Then you just hit! Hit! Hit! Ka-Keen! Bingo!"_

Naota opened his eyes and half expected to see Mamimi Samejima facing the other way,

wielding a red baseball bat. He could see her so vividly...Her red hair...her pouty lips...Her strong aroma of cigarettes. At the time, in a way, they were some-what lovers. More her for him than him for her. But all the same, friendship works in mysterious ways.

As he walked away from that cherished spot by the river under the bridge, he wondered where Mamimi was. How she was. If she had found someone. If she forgave him.

It had been seven years since Haruko Haruhara summoned the intergalactic being Atomsk in an attempt at stealing his power, and in the process nearly destroyed the Earth. In the time that past, most everyone had moved on. The ruins of the Factory on the hill had long been removed, and there was talk of a new plant being installed there to ease the lowering job market. However, ever since Medical Mechanica, the people had been a little more cautious. Last time they got a giant Iron looming overhead. What would come next, a giant Hammer?

Naota Nandaba had been at the core of the events that transpired, granting him a sort of celebrity presence. An aura that only escalated when he wrote the book.

It was more for his own sanity than anything. One year after the dust settled over Mabase, Naota had fallen into a sort of depression. In his mind, he had lost everything. He had lost Mamimi...And he lost Haruko. All that was left that fateful day was smoke, wreckage, and a guitar. So...he decided to write about it.

It took Naota two years to finish it, totaling over 300 plus pages. For another year, he sat on it, saying it was a private writing, something just for him. His school mates, however, pressured him to publish it. What followed was Eri Ninamori holding the original manuscript hostage, and reading portions of it aloud out his bedroom window, specifically the more intimate ones, until Naota agreed to publish it.

Over the next few months, Naota found himself more towards the center of attention than he really cared to be while he fine-tuned the story. Eri, Masashi, and Gaku were by on a daily basis to "lend a hand".

Then there was the matter of Canti. Naota never really could find the words to describe Canti. He was like that sibling you had who was worthless most of the time, but his redeeming qualities kept him around. He, it, or "she" (after that time Naota found Canti in a sundress downtown), kept the shop clean for grandfather, and did other menial tasks without much gripe. And between Canti and Naota, Canti still maintained a close relationship with Mamimi Samejima. He got a letter at least once a week from the states, and was rather private about them. In fact, Canti had developed quite the personal life.

Canti must have told Mamimi about the book, when one day Canti handed him a note with Mamimi's handwriting, along with a few color photos stating "Please use one of these on the cover." Nothing more.

He finished the final edit on a Saturday, but had hit one final literary roadblock.

"So what are you gonna call it?" Gaku asked.

"Not sure." Naota fell backwards onto his bed, tired of staring at papers.

"Has to be something exciting." Masashi said.

"Yeah, like 'Guitar Hero'...wait...no..." Gaku fumbled.

"The title has to be deeper than that." Eri, who was sitting crosslegged by Naota's side, mused as she stared at the papers coating the room...collecting all this was going to be a chore. "The title has to reflect the inner meanings of the story."

"What inner meanings? How do you derive meaning from a crazy alien police chick wielding a guitar like a sword, and robots coming out of Naota's head?" Gaku asked.

Naota gnawed on the inside of his lip as he thought. Inner meanings. Deep. He thought back to the more intimate moments, just him and Haruko.

"Fooly Cooly."

"Huh?" Eri, Gaku, and Masashi asked in unison.

"Fooly Cooly. That's what I'm going to title it." Naota stated, still staring at the underside of his brother bunk.

"What's Fooly Cooly?"

A rough copy of the manuscript was sent to the publisher on Monday, bearing a cover featuring a picture of Canti amongst the burned-out school house. Of the three photos that Mamimi sent him, that one conveyed the most interest, he felt.

"OFF AND AWAY?" Canti's screen read as Naota came back to the shop.

"Yeah..." He grabbed himself a drink from a cooler. "...Nothing but sour stuff..."

"YOU SEEM NERVOUS"

Naota leaned against a counter top, staring into space.

"Most of my life, it's only been this town...I never went beyond it's borders." He sighed and glanced out the door. "Everything here is ordinary. Nothing amazing ever happens here...Then, Haruko came, and..."

"AND...?"

Naota said nothing.

Canti sat down the bread dough he was making and sat his metallic frame beside Naota. His readout flared red to get his attention.

"YOU ARE HOPING THIS WILL BRING HER BACK."

"Maybe."

He was 17 then...

He tapped the end of a cigarette against the railing of the bridge. He watched the dying embers of dried tobacco drift into the river below. Two years later, Fooly Cooly was a quiet bestseller. It was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list for about five months. And all that garnered a tidy profit on his part. With the money he earned, he was able to move out of his fathers place and into a small place of his own in town.

Canti had moved in with him, for a reason that eluded Naota. Perhaps he felt obligated. Then again, things had gotten interesting for the both of them in the past year.

Naota stopped by a vending machine. All this nostalgia was making him thirsty. He fumbled with his change. These new drinks costed too much...However, just as he was about to punch the button for a Papaya/Lime drink, a hand pressed another button.

"Eri..." He growled.

Eri Ninamori chuckled as the machine "Cha-Chunk"ed a can of sour Strawberry out. She swiped the can and leaned up against the machine. "The classics never get old."

She'd let her hair grow way long in the last few years, only cutting it back when they were 15. With her long hair and a slight change in height, she was still Ninamori.

"How're you?" Naota asked, in a rather non-chalant fashion as he fished for more change for something he could tolerate.

"I'm fine, as always. I haven't seen you in a few days." For all her upper-class upbringing, she slammed the can of soda, flipping it into the nearby trash can.

"Been busy...Work's been keeping me on my toes." He retrieved his own drink, even giving Eri a slightly disgusted look when she belched. "Whatever happened to Miss Prim and Proper?"

"She grew up." Eri smiled.

"Yeah...I guess she did, didn't she?"

"You've grown up too, Naota-Kun." Eri lightly brushed his hand with hers as she walked over to the railing over looking the street below.

Naota smirked and joined her at her side.

"I finished reading it." Ninamori said.

"Yeah?"

"Do you really still think about her? After all she put you through?"

"Sometimes. Not as much anymore."

"I see..."

"Are you doing anything tonight?"

"Fathers having guests over for dinner."

"Want me to pick you up?"

"Yes."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Your place."

"My place?"

"You can cook, can't you?"

"Well, sometimes."

"Or does Canti do all that?"

"...All he knows how to cook is Curry.."

"Then dinner's on you."

Ninamori leaned her head against his shoulder for a minute before walking away.

"Don't be late."

Naota watched her walk away into the business of the early afternoon. A sigh escaped his lips as he took a long swig of his drink, his face contorting, realizing he'd gotten something sour.

He stared at the city across the way. He couldn't help but fill a tingle in the middle of his brain.

"Everything here is ordinary..." He chucked the can over the railing, sending it flying across the way, hearing a splash as it spluttered into a canal. "Nothing amazing ever happens here..."

Fade to black...

To Be Continued


End file.
